Gym lacks fire alarm, won't open

Oct. 4, 2012

Oceanview Middle School: A chain-link fence blocks access to the renovated Oceanview Middle School gym yesterday. Construction of the long-awaited gym was completed earlier this year but students haven't been able to use it because it lacks fire alarms. Masako Watanabe/Pacific Daily News/mwatanabe@guampdn.com

Written by

Arvin Temkar
Pacific Daily News

Oceanview Middle School administrators thought the school's gym -- which has been shuttered for more than a decade -- would reopen this March. But the opening has been delayed for months. The gym needs a fire alarm system, which was not included in the nearly $900,000 renovation.

It's unclear whether installing the fire alarms was the responsibility of the Department of Education or of the contractor, Z4 Corporation, said Lynda Hernandez-Avilla, principal of the school.

The result of the confusion: students are left without a gym for physical education classes, and athletic activities. ...